Revelation 22:7-21
(week 12 of 12)
Dr. Robert Wall
Suggestions for Daily Readings
- 22:7-11
- 22:12-13 Memorize & meditate
- 22:14-17
- 22:18-21
Coming Soon to a World
Near You!
Last week we read about God’s work of creating a new
heaven and new earth, along with a New Jerusalem. We were inspired by the culminating picture
of life as God intended – God on the throne, His light shining perpetually, the
tree of life and living water providing for all needs. This week we finish out the book of
Revelation by taking a look at its epilogue.
Is this a let-down? Perhaps. Definitely a slow-down. The Revelation roller coaster is now slowing
down to a full stop, and we’re waiting until the safety check is complete
before we can depart and appreciate our memories of the thrill ride. With the safety check come a few stern
warnings as we move off the ride: to worship the right object…God, not angels (v.
9), to live the right way in order to enter the new city and have the right to
the tree of life (v. 14-15), and to preserve the right words of this prophetic
letter…neither adding to them nor taking away from (v. 18-19).
But there is an inspirational theme to these closing remarks,
words we can take with us, words that will keep the thrill of Revelation
alive within and among us. In these
verses, Jesus, the exalted Lord of all, says over and over again:
“I am coming soon!” Revelation 22:7, 12, 20
And we are given our words of response, the word to
express our anticipation of Jesus’ return:
The Spirit and the
bride say, “Come!” And let the one
who hears say, “Come!” Let the one
who is thirsty come; and let the one
who wishes take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17
To sum up our experience of the roller coaster, let all those of us who have read Revelation say to Jesus: Bring it on! Or put another way in verse 20, we can say:
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Revelation 22:20
Questions for
Application
- What does it mean to you when you hear Jesus saying “I am coming soon?”
- Is his return something that you are looking forward to? Avoiding?
- How do you experience the frustration of waiting for that great day?
- How can the patterns of your daily life be shaped by the refrain “Come, Lord Jesus?”
- How are you demonstrating to Jesus that you welcome his return?
- How might you?
As always, here are some general questions to reflect
upon or discuss:
The Scene
What does the scene look like? What stands out to you visually? Revelation contains a strange mix of vision elements –
some readily understood and others quite mysterious. What do you understand? What remains mysterious?
The Characters
Who are the living characters who appear in this
scene? What does the text tell you about
them? How do they interact with one
another…what is the dramatic action? What
remains mysterious about them?
The Message
What do the characters do or say or sing? If you were to summarize this in a word or
phrase, how would you put it? What
remains unclear or mysterious with regard to a message in the text?
Words of Blessing
To paraphrase the final verse of Revelation…and the final
verse in the Bible:
May the grace of the Lord
Jesus be with all of you, for you are the saints to whom Jesus will be coming
soon. Amen.
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